Baal
"Lord of Destruction" redirects here. Were you looking for the Diablo II expansion? See Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. '' '' Baal (pronounced bay-el in North America, and bah-l in Europe) is the Lord of Destruction, the middle brother of the three Prime Evils. Plot During the attempt to contain him inside a Soulstone, the stone was shattered and the largest remaining shard was not enough to contain the demon. Tal Rasha, a powerful mage of the Horadrim, volunteered to take on the role of an extended Soulstone and be sealed in a tomb to wrestle with Baal's spirit for all eternity. But Baal's spirit won over the mortal Tal Rasha, and was set free indirectly by his brother Diablo by Marius' intervention. After Marius witnessed the reunion of the Prime Evils, he found himself unable to take Baal's Soulstone to the Hellforge and spent the remainder of his days in an asylum. Baal walked into Marius' hiding place wearing a hood and cloak. Thinking he was talking to Tyrael, Marius told his tale. After reclaiming his Soulstone, Baal revealed his true identity. He then killed Marius with Festering Appendages and set the place ablaze behind him. right|thumb|Baal imprisoned within Tal Rasha Shortly after, Baal came to assail Mount Arreat. Believing that common rabble and poorly disciplined Earthly mutations would never do, Baal instead gathered some of his most powerful minions from the depths of his demesne. He first unleashed his minions on the capital of Sescheron, and his trail of Destruction spread all the way to Harrogath. He sought to claim the sacred Worldstone and unleash the hordes of the Prime Evils. He was given the Relic of the Ancients by Nihlathak, and entered the Worldstone Keep unchallenged by the Ancients. Though Baal was successful in reaching the prize he sought, he was slain in the Worldstone Chamber. Physical Appearance The Lord of Destruction is almost spider-like in his appearance. When confronted in Diablo II, Baal moves on four insectoid legs. Compared to his brother Diablo, Baal still retains some humanoid features, most likely from his inhabiting of Tal Rasha's body. Granted, it is only his upper torso, which is pale, emaciated, and skeletal. Most likely one of the most recognizable traits of Baal is his Festering Appendages, tentacles that manifest in various places on his body. In battle, Baal summons these from the ground to impede the player's path. Similarly, in the opening movie sequence to Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Baal conjures these appendages from his hands to gruesomely slay a Barbarian. Powers and Abilities Baal has unlike his brothers not yet appeared in any media outside of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. As such, it makes it very hard to gauge what he actually capable of. What we do know however is that by possessing Tal Rasha, Baal gained considerable knowledge that had before been unknown to the forces of Hell, the location of the Worldstone being one such example. Although the Three had previously known that the stone existed, they did not know where prior to Baal receiving Tal Rasha as his host. It has also been hinted at in the Sin War Novels that Baal is the least intelligent of the Three, and that his demons tend to be stupid compared to the servants of his brothers. Traits right|thumb|Baal during the Siege of Sescheron Baal displays some qualities that set him apart from his two brothers. When he met Marius, though he could have killed him immediately and taken the Soulstone, he instead chose to listen to his tale. It's ambiguous as to why he did this. He also seems to be left handed, as he uses his left hand to do a variety of things, e.g. He uses his left hand to kill Marius in the epilogue cinematic, and he seemed to have used it a lot while having a conversation with the Barbarian in the additional cinematic in Lord Of Destruction. However, this is pure speculation, not fact. Outside of that, he displays a dry sense of humor. Finally the type of evil he governs, destruction, is physical, as opposed to his two brothers who embody an emotion. Tips and Other Additional Information Before the encounter, Baal summons monsters from each Act. Once all 5 groups of monsters are slain, Baal will go into the Worldstone Chamber. Baal is the final boss in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction and possesses a variety of deadly special attacks. He has moves such as: * Hoarfrost - sends a chilling wave that chills and knocks back the player at the same time, dealing damage multiple times if the player is knocked back a decent ways. * Incineration Nova - similar to Diablo's Flame Circle, a ring of torches (like those the Act V Imps cast) is sent out in all directions. * Mana Rift - a move which halves your current mana (seen in cinematic). * Destructive Strike * Teleport * Vile Effigy - summons a duplicate of himself, which can cast all of the real Baal's moves as well, except creating a second clone (only one Baal clone can be up at a time) * Festering Appendages - summons tentacles that come out of the ground to attack the player The duplicate is not as strong as Baal and does not drop any items. The player can identify the duplicate by looking at their names. The duplicate has the word Demon right below the 'B' in his name and the fake Baal has no light radius. The real Baal has the Demon at the center of his name. It is unknown what becomes of Baal's Soulstone when he is slain. It is presumed that it was buried when the Worldstone Chamber collapsed, or that Tyrael or the player character took it and destroyed it in the Hellforge. While he does not use the ability in the final battle, he displayed use of the spell Blaze in the final cinematic of Diablo II. This is a skill more useful for humanoids, and not as useful in his quadruped form, as he does not move around very much. He also seems to be capable of some form of remote viewing or extrasensory perception. This is evident when players, if they stand at one place anywhere in the Worldstone Keep, find themselves suddenly attacked by an unseen assailant, while a terrible laughter (none other than Baal's) is heard from nowhere. This also means that he is capable of manipulating far-away surroundings, since he should be in the Throne of Destruction, petting his cute minions. Quotes *''(Baal sits down in a corner) "So, Marius...at last I find you. I've been searching for you for a long time, Marius. I was rather beginning to think you didn't want to be found." (intro cinematic) '' *''"Not your fault? Tell me Marius, how was it 'not your fault'?" (intro cinematic)'' *''(Impersonating Tal Rasha) "Look, what have been done to me! Release me! Help me! Hurry, please, hurry!"'' *''(Rises and walks towards Marius) "Marius...give me the stone, and all is forgiven."'' *''"Give it to me, Marius" (epilogue cinematic)'' *''"You haven't failed, old man...you've done exactly as you were meant to do. However...I am not the Archangel Tyrael..." (brings the glowing soulstone to his face, revealing a demonic visage)'' *''"(laughing) You have done well, Marius. Now I think you should have your reward" (proceeds to kill Marius)'' *''"ENOUGH!" (voice continues to echo through the mountains until Baal silences it)'' *''"I shall take your position into consideration."'' (proceeds to kill the Barbarian) *''"(grins) Well...it seems your terms...are not acceptable!" (laughs as the Legion rushes forward)'' *''"My brothers will not have died in vain!" (when Baal creates a clone)'' *''BLAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHH! (This can only be heard when his intestines spill and he vomits, which is actually his death cry.)'' Relation to other literature It is possible that some aspects of Baal were inspired by the work of French 19th century demonologist Collin de Plancy - ''Dictionnarie Infernal ''where a demon called Bael is portrayed and described. However, de Plancy also adds a comment "is he the same as Baal?". In terms of appeance, he is portrayed with many one-joint spider-like legs (see picture) resembling Baal's four legs and manner of walk. On the other hand, in the book he has three heads: a toad, a man and a cat; if this was indeed an inspiration, it is easy to accept that a toad and cat heads are not suitable for the air of the game. His in-game sprite and his cinematics appearances display different facial properties (such as length of nose and chin). His voice is described as "raucous", possibly aligning with his cinematics voice, but probably unrelated. In terms of function, he is described as "the head of all the infernal powers", making him a suitable last-level boss. It is also stated that "his estates are in the East", falling along with the "always to the East" motive of the game. Furthermore, he commands sixty-six legions, but it is impossible to relate this to any formal lore. It appears from the book that he can turn invisible at will, although this has not been seen in the game. Video Diablo II: Lord of Destruction opening cinematic JxUt_LgT6Zg&fmt=18 Category:Prime Evils Category:Demons Category:Monsters Category:Boss Category:Lore Category:Diablo II: Lord of Destruction